Thursday, February 22, 2018

So... bought the HomePod right? Had it for a few days. Liked it. Not sure it was better-sounding than my Harman Kardon speakers but figured I'd keep it anyway.

A couple nights later, had a few beers, and did a bunch of comparison testing between the two speaker systems.

That night, I initiated a return of the HomePod. The next day I took it to FedEx and shipped it back.

Then I came to some realizations (which I will detail below). Last weekend I happened to be near the Apple Store in Bridgeport Village. So I went and picked up another HomePod before the return on my first one had even processed.

So here are the realizations...

It's probably better not to test out speaker systems while under the influence. Because anything with booming bass sounds good.

It's probably better not to test with Metallica when my normal listening material is classical music.

Loud sound doesn't equal good sound.

Bass-heavy sound doesn't equal good sound either.

One of the reasons for some of these conclusions, was some research I was doing into "studio monitor" type speakers. I have a set of well-rated studio monitors that make good PC speakers. Come to find out my Harman Kardon 2.1 system is also well-rated. So I was trying to decide which to use (since I had returned my HomePod).

Studio monitor speakers attempt to reproduce recordings the way they were recorded without adding "color" to the sound. This can honestly result in some boring listening. Because there isn't much bass and the sound is relatively flat. But it's a more "honest" reproduction of the recording.

Then there are the 2.1 style systems. Which can produce some pretty good bass. But my feeling is... the 2.1 system definitely does color the sound. And while it sounds way better when cranking up Metallica after a few beers, it's probably not "quality" sound.

That's when I concluded that the Apple HomePod is probably a great speaker for me and the type of music I typically listen to. Will the Harman Kardons outcrank it while playing bass-heavy rock? Sure. But the HomePod probably produces better quality and more accurate sound.

BTW, what you see in the picture is my HomePod elevated on a "yoga block". I have no idea what yoga blocks are used for. But an audio guy said the HomePod sounds better when elevated a bit and recommended them.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

The picture above shows my Apple HomePod that arrived yesterday. It is intended to replace the Harman Kardon SoundSticks shown below. The HomePod has no wired connections (except for power). It's designed to respond to voice commands (via Siri). One can also stream to it from any Airplay-capable device.

The HomePod has very nice sound. Certainly it is a technological marvel for it's small size. For years we've seen a number of small bluetooth speakers on the market that have significantly better sound output than their small size would suggest they should. I have a couple from Sony that I like pretty well. I also had an expensive one from Harman Kardon before I returned it and got my SoundSticks.

For years I have used a number of 2.1 systems like the Harman Kardon SoundSticks shown above connected to various things (usually a PC or a TV). A 2.1 system is a basically an amplified speaker system with two primary speakers and one sub-woofer. I've been pretty impressed with a number of these, and I think it's a great budget solution for many folks.

I think that one cannot expect to match the sound volume or crankability of a decent 2.1 system with a single speaker like the HomePod. However the HomePod does have several things going for it. First, the sound quality is exceptional. Second, it's entirely omnidirectional. There is no front or back and therefore no real "sweet spot" that one needs to be in. It literally tunes itself to your room and it's placement in it. Third, it has an always-listening personal assistant (Siri). This is particularly nice since most of our lighting is HomeKit compatible. Controlling the lights with voice commands is kinda cool.

So while the HomePod doesn't crank as loud as my other speakers... it looks cool, and it sounds cool. Plus I'm an Apple fan. So there is that. Being an Apple fan means I have a predisposition to liking/preferring Apple products. I make no apologies for that. And in the case of the HomePod, my decision whether or not to keep it might be more difficult if it were not a fancy new Apple product. That does kind of tilt the scales for me. I won't lie, being an Apple fan is fun. And yes, I am keeping it.